Teacher Appreciation Gift - Free Printable

I know that everyone's kids are already out of school... so I'm a little late on this one... BUT my daughter is finishing her last week of Preschool this Friday! She goes to a year-round preschool, so we chose to let her stay for an extra month! 

This week we put together her teacher appreciation gifts.


They were super easy to put together, very inexpensive, and a great summer gift giving idea! 


Plus... they are really cute!! 

I put together the printables for you in case you want to Pin It now and save it for later!! 


I created these round label tags for my 2.5" round punch. You can find a punch that size at most hobby/craft stores or online. Mine is from EKSuccess and I LOVE it!! If you don't have a punch, simple cut around the dashed circle. 


{download here}

I made my rectangle tags double sided. I simply cut each rectangle out and used a glue stick to attach the front and back of each tag. Then I had my sweet little girl sign her name on each tag. 


{download here}

AND... since I know some of you might want to use these to hand out to your friends, those you visit teach, or as a fun little something to show your appreciation to someone.. I also created these tags. You can choose to use the back side or to just have one sided tags. 

 

{download here}


To create my mixture, I just bough the strawberry lemonade mix from Costco. It was easy and inexpensive! Plus, due to it's bulk size {thank you Costco} we were able to fill up three jars, plus have a good amount left over for ourselves! 


My daughter did the scooping. {I Put a cookie sheet under her work space though to catch any misses.} Then she helped to assemble the jars... but after the first one she said she was done, so I finished the other 3.  


I used pint sized Mason Jars from Target and scrap fabric to create my container. I simply layed the fabric on top of the canning lid and screwed the top on over my fabric. Then using pinking shears I trimmed the excess fabric to create a fun top! 


Once my tags were assembled I punch a hole in the corner of each one {the top of the round tag} and tied some bakers twine around the top of my jar and through each tag. 
Simple. Fun. Cute. 


Here is a printable for the directions in case you decide to use the same mix. 


{download here}





Be sure to Pin this one for later... you'll be glad you did! 

Mingle Monday - 6.25.2012

Hey there! I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! I picked out some fabrics yesterday for a car seat canopy. I'm hoping to start working on it tomorrow so I can get the tutorial posted this week... as well as another baby blanket tutorial. 

As long as this little one doesn't decide to come early, I have LOTS more ideas for tutorials coming up as part of my continuing Nesting Series. If you have any suggestions, be sure to leave me a comment. Make sure you check out the Nesting Series tab at the top of my page to see all the fun tutes that are already posted!

I'm putting together teacher appreciation gifts this week {ya, I know... it may seem a little late for that -- but my LO goes to a year round preschool, and this is her last week, so I'm just doing it now} and it will include a free printable that you can pin now and save until next year if you want! 

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Visit as many blogs on the link list as you would like. Make sure you leave a comment and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday!

Please link family friendly blogs ONLY!! I would hate to have to delete anyone from the blog hop. 

Become a follower here on my blog so that you can take advantage of any and all freebies that I offer {usually once a week}.



Nesting Series: Changing Pad Cover Tutorial

Last time I was at my local Babies R Us and Target, I was scoping out their changing pad covers. I had bought a new changing pad a couple weeks ago using one of the 20% off coupons (gotta love those!!). BUT, I had yet to get any covers for it. 

I couldn't really find anything that I liked. So, what's a girl to do!!?!? MAKE ONE! 


**This tutorial is for a standard sized changing pad {mine is from Babies R Us} measuring 16"x32".**

Here's what you need:
48" of fabric - minky, flannel, cotton, terry cloth, chenille, or any combo
1 yd 3/8" knit elastic and safety pin
fabric marker or chalk
sewing machine, pins, thread, scissors, rotary cutter, ruler, mat, iron, etc.... (the usual stuff)

Here's how to do it:
Cut a rectangle out of your fabric that is 48" long and 32" wide {48"x32"}. I made two versions. One where I used a single piece of fabric, and one where I sewed two pieces of fabric together.

Once you have your rectangle, use your fabric marker to draw an 8" square in each of the four corners of your rectangle. {If you are a rotary cutting pro you could use your cutter for this step... me!??! I use the draw and cut method!}



Repeat this step for all four of your corners. If you are a quilter, you could save your corners and piece together a quilt... or, let your kids cut them up and play with them ... like I did! 

Here is how your finished corners will look.


Take the two sides of your cut corner and fold them right sides together.


Be sure to line your sides up so that the inside of the corner pieces are touching. This will create the pocket for your changing pad corner. 


Pin your fabric together.


Sew a straight stitch {about 1.5" inseam} along where you have pinned. Be sure to back stitch at the beginning and end. I find that when I sew minky fabric I need to use lots of pins. Minky can be stretchy. By using a couple more pins than usual it helps to keep the fabric from stretching while sewing.


This creates the actual pocket for your changing pad corners. Repeat for all four corners.


Once done sewing all four corners, take your fabric to your ironing board and press the bottom edge up about 1/2". Then fold it over again 3/4"-1" and pin in place. 


I always double pin on either side of the opening for my casing. This way I know exactly where to start and stop. In this case, I chose one of the corners as the spot for my opening. 


Using a 1/8-1/4" seam allowance, sew your casing closed. This creates a pocket for your elastic to slip into... so be sure -- before you start stitching -- that your elastic will fit between your stitch and the edge of your fabric with a little bit a wiggle room to spare. 


Grab your elastic and a safety pin. Attach your pin to one end of your elastic.


Feed your safety pin through the casing {pocket} that you just completed making. Be sure not to lose the end of your elastic!! 


Once you have fed your safety pin {and the elastic} all the way through, pull out enough elastic for you to be able to comfortable sew together with your machine.


Overlap your elastic ends about an inch and using a zig-zag stitch, sew your two ends together. I stitched mine twice to make sure it really stayed!


Stretch your changing pad cover so that the elastic is evenly spread inside your casing and sew the opening in your casing close. 

Here's how my changing pad had been looking for a couple weeks.... 


...and here is how it looks now! MUCH BETTER! 


Here is the other changing pad cover I made using one piece of flannel fabric.



Make a couple for yourself, or give them away at a baby shower! But, most importantly... HAVE FUN DOING IT!! 

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Want to learn how to make a changing pad cover out of muslin just like the ones by Aden and Anais!? Come check out where to buy your fabric and how to use it to create your own cover for about $5. 





Mingle Monday - 6.18.2012

Happy Father's Day!!! I am so thankful for my wonderful dad and my awesome husband! I hope you guys have a great day today ...not that either of them really read my blog...

Hey, did you catch my freebie printables from Friday??



Who doesn't  love all of the Keep Calm signs?!?! You can grab some of your own here


Visit as many blogs on the link list as you would like. Make sure you leave a comment and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday!

Please link family friendly blogs ONLY!! I would hate to have to delete anyone from the blog hop. 

Become a follower here on my blog so that you can take advantage of any and all freebies that I offer {usually once a week}.



Craft Room Decor - Keep Calm Printable Signs

I have this annoying  useful space above my desk area that was in need of some major decor HELP!!



{Don't mind all the clutter and junk -- really, just pretend it's not there... PLEASE!?! Since my shop is closed I am very slowly working to organize and de-junk my crafting space. But lately the organizing has been put on the back burner for my terrible NESTING!}

I tried being creative a while back -- by settling on an easy project -- and created a fabric focal point. Over time I have grown to really dislike it. It is nice ... don't get me wrong... but I'm looking to modernize my craft room and make it a functional, beautiful space for me!!

I have been lving all of the Keep Calm signs that are popping up in stores and online! They can get a little pricey though, so rather than purchase the size I need for this space, I opted to create some custom Keep Calm signs for my craft room! This way I could keep within the color scheme that I am working to create in this space, as well as use the wording that works best for me!!



I created these 3 signs using various clip art images from the internet and photoshop!


I printed mine on heavy duty 110 lb. cardstock at the highest resolution I could!! Here's how they came out:



I test printed my colors to make sure that they would print at exactly what I wanted before printing my big signs! Always a smart idea if you are looking for SPECIFIC colors!!

Want to get your hands on some for your own space?!?! I made a couple extra ones. Please be sure to become a follower of my blog -- if you haven't already

Here are all of the Keep Calm signs I have created:


Each one a separate PDF file with an 8.25"x10.25" graphic on it for use in an 8x10 frame. 
Please note these are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Please respect my designs and the time I spent creating them.



in brown
{download}

or in blue






***NEW***


Feel free to share with your readers, but DO NOT post the download links on your own website. PLEASE link back to this post!!! 

Here's another pic just because I love how they turned out!!!
{again... don't mind the mess... it's next on my to do list... I promise!}



And just for comparison... 



I am totally digging my new decor! Now if I could just find the time and energy to get the rest of my craft room done... 32 more days 'til my due date!
  CRAZY!!!!